18 replies to this topic

[Skiing#1]

I kept the brochure include map of Season 1976-1977 when I was teenager. I would share with you about the map and pictures of Alta.

1. Brochure Alta 76-77
2. Map
3. Wildcat Base (left: Collins Lift and right: Wildcat Lift, far right General Office/Patrol Office)
4. Ticket Office (still stand...same, nothing change for many years)
5. Wildcat Base, Goldminer's Daughter Building, and Collins Lift
6. Midway of Wildcat Lift in background and Collins Lift in front
7. Germania Lift - bottom (now it is gone...replace of Collons Lift along with angle station)
8. Germania Lift
9. Ballroom Trail and Wildcat Lift
10. Albion Base and Sunnyside Lift
11. Sugarloaf Lift - bottom
12. Sugarloaf Lift
13. Devil's Eldow Trail and Sugarloaf Lift
14. I don't know what name of this lift...anyone help me to identity this lift.

Attached File(s)

•  1._brochure.JPG (1.18MB)
  Number of downloads: 13
•  2._map7677.JPG (1.64MB)
  Number of downloads: 106
•  3.__Wildcat_Base.JPG (152.94K)
  Number of downloads: 60
•  4._Ticket_Office.JPG (154.94K)
  Number of downloads: 24
•  5.__Wildcat_Base_Goldminer__s.JPG (158.55K)
  Number of downloads: 53
•  6.__Midway_of_Wildcat_Collins.JPG (150.62K)
  Number of downloads: 33
•  7._Germania.JPG (174.51K)
  Number of downloads: 47
•  8._Germania1.JPG (186K)
  Number of downloads: 32
•  9._Ballroom_Wildcat.JPG (148.86K)
  Number of downloads: 43
•  10._Sunnyside.JPG (168.13K)
  Number of downloads: 33
•  11._Bottom_Sugarloaf.JPG (160.49K)
  Number of downloads: 54
•  12._Sugarloaf.JPG (161.67K)
  Number of downloads: 41
•  13._Devil__s_Elbow__Sugarloaf.JPG (160.63K)
  Number of downloads: 36
•  14._Don__t_know_name_lift.JPG (188.61K)
  Number of downloads: 51

This post has been edited by Skiing#1: 02 September 2006 - 07:32 PM

[poloxskier]

What was the make of the Wildcat lift?

[Splicer]

Wildcat is a Yan, the chairs are quite interesting, they were designed by Ono and someone else (can't rememeber the other guy).

[Peter]

Last pic is Supreme, must be from a later year between 1981 and 2001. Also, pic number 10 is actually the lift know as Neversweat double, where Sunnyside is now.

This post has been edited by Skier: 02 September 2006 - 09:10 PM

[ccslider]

Skier, on Sep 2 2006, 08:53 PM, said:

Last pic is Supreme, must be from a later year between 1981 and 2001. Also, pic number 10 is actually the lift know as Neversweat double, where Sunnyside is now.

Back in 76/77, the two double chairlifts out of the Albion base area were called Sunnyside and Albion. I don't recall either of those lifts as being new so "Neversweat" must have been awhile before that?

[poloxskier]

Splicer, on Sep 2 2006, 08:04 PM, said:

Wildcat is a Yan, the chairs are quite interesting, they were designed by Ono and someone else (can't rememeber the other guy).

that lattice tower double is a yan? Or is that not Wildcat?

This post has been edited by poloxskier: 03 September 2006 - 08:15 AM

[Skiing#1]

Skier, thank you for two information about Neverswest (now it is Sunnyside...you are right) and Supreme on last picture. Now, I remember I took that picture of Supreme in 1983 and I put that picture with other old pictures.

I looked up the history, and it is very interesting.

They changed names from Neverswest Lift to Sunnyside Lift in Summer 1970. in 1980, they replaced that lift by Yan Kunczynski.

In 1981, they added Cecret Lift and Supreme Lift.

In 1995-1998, they replaced the chairs on Collins, Wildcat, Germania, Sugarloaf and Sunnyside. It called "Onno's Easy Chairs" by Onno Wiernga.

Here is more information on webite:

http://www.altahistory.org/index1.html

I can't find the information that they replaced several lifts to high speed lifts from fixed-grip doubles and triples. Skier, can you give information about replaced high speed lifts?

Skier, you are a very popular about Alta I noticed your picture of the terminal. Is that top of the terminal "Collins"?

[Peter]

Here is an Excel spreadsheet with lifts and their install/remove years for most of the lifts. Yes, my picture is the top of Collins. The "Onno Easy Chairs" are also used at Mt Baker, Washington, for no apparent reason.

Attached File(s)

•  Alta.xls (15K)
  Number of downloads: 20

This post has been edited by Skier: 03 September 2006 - 09:56 AM

[skiersage]

Skier, on Sep 3 2006, 12:55 PM, said:

Here is an Excel spreadsheet with lifts and their install/remove years for most of the lifts. Yes, my picture is the top of Collins. The "Onno Easy Chairs" are also used at Mt Baker, Washington, for no apparent reason.

Since when does Mt Baker have a Yan?

But anyway, if you look at the slide show of Alta's employees on their website, there is a pic of someone who's name is Onno. So if this is the same person then Alta is the first place since the early days of lifts to have there own chair design. Even though there have those types of carriers at other resorts.

[Peter]

It doesn't, the Onno Easy Chairs were built in th 90's by CTEC and put on the Yans and all new lifts after. Now DoppelmayrCTEC puts them on the new lifts at Alta and Mt. Baker.

[liftmech]

Those are, I believe, the standard D-CTEC carriers now. They were patterned after (or are the same as) the Garaventa carriers found at Vail on chair 6, etc. I recall the CTEC rep calling them the 'Vail' carrier when we were designing chair 5 at Baker. At that time you could get either the original CTEC carrieror the 'Vail' model.

[Peter]

You're right, they do look the same or at least very similar. I guess the only difference is that Alta and Mt Baker don't put bars and footrests on them. I don't know if you could really call it the standard D-CTEC chair, as they seem to be building about a third with the Vail/Alta/Baker chairs, a third with Dopp EJ chairs and another third with CTEC chairs.

[Peter]

Of the lifts built last year by Doppelmayr CTEC:

Detachables:
"Vail" chairs: 5 lifts
Doppelmayr EJ chairs: 1 lift
European Bubble Chairs: 1 lift

Fixed Grips:
"Vail" chairs: 2 lifts
Doppelmayr EJ chairs: 1 lift
CTEC chairs: 9 lifts

Totals:
"Vail" Chairs: 7 lifts
Doppelmayr EJ chairs: 2 lifts
CTEC Chairs: 9 lifts
European bubble chairs: 1 lift

[skierdude9450]

Now let's get and see if we can name the ones where all the chairs came from.

The doppelmayr EJ chairs would be larkspur express at Beaver Creek. The bubbles are at Spanish Peaks.

[Peter]

Well I just flipped therough the WorldBook and looked at each list, what is the point of typing them all out?

[liftmech]

Exactly. Back on topic please.

[ccslider]

Back to the Alta 76/77 season....

As I recall that was not a great snow year, especially early season as the area did not open until early January. I spent the winter living and working at the Alpenglow located at the base of the Sugarloaf lift. We celebrated Christmas by taking a day off from attempting to thaw frozen water and sewer pipes, cooked up a turkey and then went out for a hike to the top of the Devil's Castle via Sugarloaf Mtn (nice view).

It started snowing around New Years and January was what I would call good eastern skiing on the main designated runs but none of the high traverses opened until later in the month. Then February arrived with more snow and it really got after it towards the end of the month highlighted by a 62" overnight dump (George Washingtons birthday as I recall) that closed everything with an "interlodge" restriction on travel. The 105mm howiser located near the top of the Sunnyside Lift produced amazing slides - my first real introduction to the awesome destructive forces unleashed by climax events. As you might imagine, the minimal early season snow made for serious TG development and a very unstable snowpack.

The snows continued through March and April so the 2nd half of the winter season made up for the pathetic early ski season. Great memories overall and I still consider the opportunity to visit Little Cottonwood as a pilgrimage to the promised land.

[hyak.net]

ccslider, on Sep 28 2006, 07:09 AM, said:

Back to the Alta 76/77 season....

As I recall that was not a great snow year, especially early season as the area did not open until early January. I spent the winter living and working at the Alpenglow located at the base of the Sugarloaf lift. We celebrated Christmas by taking a day off from attempting to thaw frozen water and sewer pipes, cooked up a turkey and then went out for a hike to the top of the Devil's Castle via Sugarloaf Mtn (nice view).

It started snowing around New Years and January was what I would call good eastern skiing on the main designated runs but none of the high traverses opened until later in the month. Then February arrived with more snow and it really got after it towards the end of the month highlighted by a 62" overnight dump (George Washingtons birthday as I recall) that closed everything with an "interlodge" restriction on travel. The 105mm howiser located near the top of the Sunnyside Lift produced amazing slides - my first real introduction to the awesome destructive forces unleashed by climax events. As you might imagine, the minimal early season snow made for serious TG development and a very unstable snowpack.

The snows continued through March and April so the 2nd half of the winter season made up for the pathetic early ski season. Great memories overall and I still consider the opportunity to visit Little Cottonwood as a pilgrimage to the promised land.

In the PNW the '76-'77 season was one of the worse on record. 2 ski areas went out of business following that season as well as another going bankrupt. Many of the areas were only open a few weeks and Snoqualmie had 191" total with 112" of it falling in March....yea, not a good year.

[ccslider]

hyak.net, on Sep 28 2006, 10:32 AM, said:

In the PNW the '76-'77 season was one of the worse on record. 2 ski areas went out of business following that season as well as another going bankrupt. Many of the areas were only open a few weeks and Snoqualmie had 191" total with 112" of it falling in March....yea, not a good year.

And from what I've heard, Telluride was open for all of ten days that year around the end of February - probably concided with George Washington Birthday big snow event in Utah.